1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of this invention relate generally to pillows, and more particularly to an anti-aging pillow configured for reducing facial wrinkling.
2. Description of Related Art
In the field of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery, physicians often consult with patients who are seeking remedies for their facial wrinkling. They typically request medical procedures, such as injections of fillers (such as collagen) and muscle immobilizers (such as Botox®), to alleviate this issue, given the fact that they believe their facial wrinkles are a natural result of the aging process. In actuality, however, the facial wrinkling from which many of these patients suffer is caused at least in part by sleep compression lines and sleep surface-associated skin stress. During sleep on a traditional pillow, constant, unavoidable compression, stretching and tugging of a person's facial skin occurs as the weight of their head rests upon the pillow in the prone (i.e., face down) or side sleeping positions. This causes facial compression sleep lines and/or wrinkles which, over time, may become permanent; especially in more mature, less resilient skin. Furthermore, this constant tugging of the skin during sleep on a traditional pillow can increase the rate of loss of dermal elasticity and tone, hastening the general appearance of facial aging. Thus, there is a great need for a pillow that provides a solution to this problem.
The following art defines the present state of this field:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,792 to Kogan is generally directed to an orthopaedic pillow made of a block of cellular material having the consistence of a latex foam and having, as seen in plan, substantially the shape of a rectangle or a trapezium, the large side or the large base of which is formed with a concave frontal curvature, the top of the block bounding a concavity in the medium portion of the curved edge and said concavity being continued by a recess.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,231 to Wang is generally directed to a contoured pillow designed to accommodate a person sleeping in the supine position or in a side position. The pillow includes a curved ridge along one edge of the pillow to support the neck. The ridge ends in an elliptical depression within the center of the pillow to support the back of a person's head. The elliptical depression allows a person's head a freedom of movement of 45 degrees from either side of its normal vertical position and allows bending of the neck to a certain degree. Along the sides of the depression the pillow is of a greater dimension to support the head when resting on the side of the head. The pillow further includes longitudinal grooves within the side regions of the pillow to prevent a person's ear from being overly compressed against the pillow when resting on one's side. The pillow is of a conventional size and shape and can be used with standard pillow cases, standard sized beds, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. D318,203 to Zaghini is generally directed to the ornamental design for a pillow.
U.S. Pat. No. D381,233 to Torbik is generally directed to the ornamental design for a cervical pillow.
U.S. Pat. No. D388,648 to Bates is generally directed to the ornamental design for a face saving pillow design.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,708,998 to Torbik is generally directed to a cervical pillow for providing proper cervical support whether the sleeper is on his back or on his side. Side sections including cutouts on the left and right of the pillow provide clearance for the airways during side sleeping, and a multi-level construction provides the proper head and neck support for either back or side sleeping positions. A high quality fiber is used in rolled and layered sections to provide comfort for the sleeper and resiliency of the pillow over prolonged use. Dual neck rolls of different diameters allow two sleepers of different neck sizes to alternately use the same pillow.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,267 to Keilhauer is generally directed to therapeutic sleeping pillow for a user being generally rectangular with longer front and rear edges and a pair of shorter side edges and upper and lower surfaces. A central portion of the upper surface is provided with a cavity for receiving the user's head, with a neck-supporting ridge formed between the front edge of the pillow and the cavity in the central portion. A wedge-shaped extension of the pillow projects from the front edge to support the upper back of the user. At least one of the pair of shorter side edges has an extension disposed thereon. Each such side extension is provided with a relatively shallow central cavity on the upper surface for receiving and supporting the user's head and a front edge for supporting the user's neck. The upper surface of each such side extension slopes generally downwardly from the front edge towards the rear edge.
U.S. Pat. No. D465,686 to Hwong is generally directed to the ornamental design for a pillow.
U.S. Pat. No. D474,364 to Arceiri is generally directed to the ornamental design for an anti-wrinkle pillow.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,574,809 to Rathbun is generally directed to a pillow which supports a person's head while the person sleeps on their side and does not induce any pressure to a person's face. The pillow includes a body which has a first body portion and a second body portion extending from the first body portion. The first body portion is substantially rectangular-shaped and provides a base for the second body portion. The second body portion defines at least one recess and is positioned such that a plurality of recesses extend from the sides of the pillow towards a lower section of the second body portion.
U.S. Pat. No. D497,507 to Keilhauer is generally directed to the ornamental design for a back sleeper pillow.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,817,049 to Hall is generally directed to a triune, substantially bilaterally symmetrical pillow for a reclining human being configured to provide therapeutic and support and comfort for the head and neck while lying on one's back and side, and allow use in two, opposite orientations to increase durability and functional capacity. A center section is provided with a thin portion, abutted on either side along one axis by two substantially similar convex portions, and abutted on either side along a second axis normal to the first by two substantially identical flat end sections. The end sections have cutaways near the bottoms of their sides, to either side of their connections to the center section, that are designed to accommodate the shoulder of a human user.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,915,539 to Rathbun is generally directed to a pillow which includes a first body portion and a continuous second body portion that extends from the first body portion. The first body portion includes a top edge and a bottom edge connected by a first side edge and a second side edge. The second body portion extends continuously from the top edge to the bottom edge, and continuously between the first and second side edges. The first body portion is substantially rectangular-shaped. The second body portion defines at least one recess, wherein the recess is bordered by a continuous sidewall formed by the second body portion. The recess sidewall extends arcuately from at least one of the first side edge and the second side edge. The pillow also includes an axis of symmetry that extends from the top edge to the pillow bottom edge.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,082,633 to Maarbjerg is generally directed to a pillow adapted for supporting the head of a user. In some embodiments, the pillow can have a visco-elastic body having a center portion elevated with respect to adjacent lateral side portions, each of which can have a recess. The recess can have a concave shape in both lateral and forward/rearward directions of the pillow, can extend and be open to the front and/or lateral sides of the pillow, and can be positioned and shaped to lie beneath the face of a user whose head is at least partially supported by the center portion of the body. Also, the center portion of the pillow can be separated from the laterally adjacent recesses by arcuate-shaped boundaries.
U.S. Pat. No. D529,325 to Maarbjerg is generally directed to the ornamental design for a pillow.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,165,279 to Georgescu is generally directed to a pillow structured for preserving a user's facial beauty and includes a central portion, and upper and lower leg members extending from both the left and right sides of the central portion. The upper and lower leg members on each side are angled relative to one another to form a V-shaped gap. The upper and lower leg members support the user's head and neck, while the face remains over the V-shaped gap avoiding contact with the pillow, and thereby preventing distortion and wrinkling of the facial skin. A case that covers the facial beauty pillow may include straps, allowing the facial beauty pillow to be secured to a conventional pillow to adjust the resting height of the head according to the individual comfort level of the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,203,983 to Reeves et al. is generally directed to a pillow apparatus comprising at least one roll portion, a bottom layer extending horizontally from the roll portion, a top layer extending horizontally from the roll portion substantially adjacent to the bottom layer, and a hollow core formed between the bottom layer and the top layer substantially centered within the pillow so as to form a central back-sleeping region and opposite, adjacent side-sleeping regions.
U.S. Pat. No. D558,499 to Maarbjerg is generally directed to the ornamental design for a pillow.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,316,041 and 7,516,504 to Guez is generally directed to an osteopathic pillow comprising a body made of an elastically deformable material provided with a top side upon which the head of a user can be rested, and an underside for being placed upon a pillow support. The top side is joined to the underside by at least one shoulder side. Said shoulder side is provided with a shoulder cut-out that forms an opening for the cervical vertebrae of the user when he is lying on his back, and forms an accommodating space for the shoulder of the user when he is lying on his side. The top side preferably comprises a recess that partially accommodates the head of the user, called the head receiving recess.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0139031 to Davis et al. is generally directed to a device for use with a respiratory mask comprising a pillow having at least one recess structured to receive the mask so that the pillow does not exert substantial pressure on the mask, and a cover that at least partially covers the exterior surface of the pillow and substantially follows the contours of the at least one recess. A method of using a respiratory mask comprises providing a pillow having at least one recess, positioning a cover on the pillow so that the cover substantially follows the contours of the at least one recess, positioning a respiratory mask on the head of a user, and positioning the user's head on the cover and pillow such that the mask is received in the at least one recess so that the pillow and cover do not exert substantial pressure on the mask.
While the known prior art does teach various types of anti-wrinkle devices, some of which even aimed at keeping the user's face from contacting the sleeping surface, these prior art devices still have various problems, such as an inability to sufficiently support the weight of the user's head over the sleeping surface, an inability to successfully prevent the user from turning onto his or her face during sleep, an inability to successfully and efficiently enable and physically direct the user in selectively transitioning between a lower neutral supine position and a relatively higher neutral side sleeping position, a tendency to create an uncomfortable sleep experience, and/or a tendency to cause neck and back muscle pain or stiffness upon the user's awakening. Aspects of the present invention fulfill these needs and provide further related advantages as described in the following summary.